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Blish-Mize Marks 140 Years in Business at Fall Market

September 16, 2011

At its recent market, Blish-Mize placed a strong emphasis on paint and sundries, reflecting a strong gain in paint sales among its customers.

Atchison-Kansas based distributor Blish-Mize continued the celebration of its 140th anniversary at its Fall buying market held over this past weekend at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kan.

The distributor offered market attendees 140th anniversary coupon specials and held hourly drawings throughout the event giving away $140 in cash to lucky retailers. “We are very proud to reach a milestone like 140 years in business and we know that no business has this kind of longevity without the support of its customers,” said Jonathan Mize, Blish-Mize president and COO. “Because our customers mean so much to us, we wanted to make sure we honored them as part of our celebration.”

In addition to the anniversary theme and giveaways at the market, Blish-Mize also showcased several of its new and enhanced product lines, including new household cleaning and plumbing assortments under its popular Hardware House private-label.

“We introduced an entirely new selection of Hardware House brooms and mops and more than 40 new faucets that meet the zero-lead content standards,” said Mize. “We also showcased our complete assortment of paint and sundry products at the market. While we have always been very strong in this area, we have seen marked growth in the paint and sundries category recently and wanted to make sure our customers could see the breadth of our offering.”

Overall, Mize reported that business for the distributor has been strong this year, with the company experiencing “double-digit sales increases.”

“While there are pockets of our customers that are seeing slower business, overall they are experiencing stronger sales. I think a lot of that can be attributed to some increases we have seen in the paint and sundries area as well as the fact that we have a number of customers that are strong in the ag markets,” he says.